


An Ineluctable Conversation

by Tanista



Series: That Deep Romantic Chasm, or Journey to the Center of the Neath [3]
Category: Fallen London | Echo Bazaar, MacGyver (TV 1985), Sunless Sea
Genre: Alternate Universe, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Domestic Adventures, Family, Gen, Jack Dalton is a Good Friend, Uncle-Niece Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-21
Updated: 2017-09-21
Packaged: 2019-01-01 06:51:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12151035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tanista/pseuds/Tanista
Summary: Jack Dalton asking for favors is never a good thing. But asking a big one of him in return is entirely another kettle of pasta.





	An Ineluctable Conversation

**Author's Note:**

> Set in Chapter 5 of A Miracle of Rare Device.

\--1995--

The MacGyver-Grahme household has three unofficial mottoes:

_1\. Be prepared for anything._

_2\. When you have no tools or weapons, you make do with what you have._

_3\. When Jack Dalton asks for a favor, never say yes._

That last one isn't technically a motto. More like a word of warning.

* * * *

Becky reaches in the refrigerator for lettuce and tomato, cutting both up for salad and adding them to the serving bowl. She checks the water- boiling hard enough in the pot, she thinks- and dumps in the pasta.

After a glance at the clock she gathers silverware and plates and goes to set the kitchen table. Her guest should be arriving any minute now.

She decides against candles. This isn't an attempt at seduction, after all. More like persuasion.

The very notion of seducing her guest makes her stomach turn, anyway.

"Helloooo? Anybody home?"

She groans. She never understood how he had gotten a key in the first place. Wouldn't surprise her if he swiped it once from Mac and made a copy for himself. "I'm in here," she yells.

"Hey, kiddo!" Jack Dalton beams as he strolls into the kitchen. "How's life treatin' ya? You look great. Dinner smells great, too. Thanks for the invite. I'm starved."

"No problem," she shrugs. That's a lie; it had taken her all afternoon to work up the courage to make the call. But she had learned to successfully stretch the truth a bit, over the years. "Dinner's almost ready, you can freshen up in the bathroom."

"Nah, I'm good."

She turns away from stirring the red sauce, raising an eyebrow at his hands, still smeared with engine grease. "Doesn't look clean enough to me, Jack. Go and wash."

"Aw, c'mon, Beck--"

She glares and points with a scarlet-stained wooden spoon in the direction of the first floor bathroom. "Now, or you're not getting anything. Including dessert."

A hopeful look comes into his eyes. "Your famous chocolate cake?"

She nods, and he dashes off in the direction of the bathroom.

Becky sighs. The lengths she has to go through for this, really. She only hopes the effort's not for nothing.

* * * *

The dinner goes surprisingly well. They chat about old times, her summer in Italy, how Katie and little Jack Jr. (seven years old now) are faring up in San Francisco.

But there's an absence at the table. As there has been for a whole year now. The man they both had in common.

MacGyver. Her uncle and his best friend.

Disappeared while on a mission to Kabulstan and presumed dead. Or so everyone else believes.

Becky knows the truth now, thanks to her research at the Foundation's Archives near Naples. And- according to Pete- so does Jack, though of course he found out in a different manner.

Time to test that theory.

The last noodle of pasta is slurped up, and her guest utters a small but satisfied belch. She rolls her eyes at his lack of manners.

"Delish, Beck. You know, the one good thing about Mac being away from home so much is the way you really took to cooking."

She shrugs. "Needs must, Jack. Couldn't survive on frozen tacos or pizza like you can. It's a skill I had to pick up."

"Well, MacGyver would be proud anyway. You've grown up so fast, taken on so much responsibility around here."

"Thanks. Speaking of Uncle Mac--" She swallows against the lump forming in her throat, unable to say more. For some reason her carefully-prepared speech has been completely wiped from her mind.

To stall for time she rises to collect the dirty dishes. "Maybe we ought to have cake first."

"Becky, wait." She pauses by his chair; he gently lays a hand on her arm. "Your old buddy Jack's no fool, you know," he says softly. "I know why you called me, and it wasn't only to share a bowl of pasta. I owe Mac big time in so many ways. Whatever favor you need from me, you just go ahead and ask."

She bites her lip. "You're sure? Because it's a really big one. Very important. Could change both our lives, in ways we don't expect."

"You got it. Assistance from yours truly. No questions asked."

She steps quickly over to the kitchen counter, sets down the dishes and returns to the table.

She considers the pilot. No twitching left eye. He's both sober and serious.

Well. Nothing ventured, right?

She takes a deep breath. "So, Jack. _Compadre._ " A twinkle in his eyes; undoubtedly he's now recalling the time Mac actually had to ask him for a favor and what an ordeal that must have been.

She bravely presses onward.

"You're right, I need a favor. From you."

"Name it, kiddo. Anything."

Another deep breath. She can hear Self (from the letter) yelling in the back of her mind. _For crying out loud! Just spit it out, already._

"I know my uncle's not dead. I know you know it too," she begins.

"And you want to me to help you go find him. In Kabulstan, and wherever else he might've wound up. And bring him home."

"Yeah. Pete told me you met him the night before last, with a plan to go seek your fortune while looking for him."

"Well, shopping list, more like. But that's not the real reason. See Beck, I wanted to find MacGyver for you. Things just haven't been the same since I dropped him off in Ammukash. For the world, and especially for you. The love and devotion you have for each other is a beautiful, really special thing, and that light in your eyes whenever I saw you together has dimmed so much since he disappeared. I wanted to be the one to put things right again. Pay off my debt to Mac, in a way, for all the times I got him in trouble. That's the real reason why I approached Pete."

He shrugs. "Also, well. There's no one here for me, either. Katie and the kid are happy in San Fran, my mom's somewhere far away in witness protection-land, and Penny's new TV show is a hit, so she's too busy to think of me. Sure, I'm making a decent profit from the Wingman Bar and met lots of eligible ladies there, but it's been gettin' old lately. Guess it's time for a change, ya know?"

Suddenly it dawns on him he might've said too much. Flushing slightly, he clears his throat and takes a sip of the iced tea.

She's stunned, realizing she's abruptly seeing Jack Dalton- the oldest, wiliest, and craziest of her uncle's friends- in a whole new light. That silver-tongued devil, the King (or maybe Jack) of Jokers, has actually floored her with the one thing she honestly never expected from him.

The truth.

And judging by the expression on Dalton's face, the feeling's entirely mutual.

How about that.

She clears her throat as well, blinks back unexpected tears. "In that case, we ought to have some cake to seal the deal then, huh? And start discussing the logistics of the whole thing. As well as go over that 'supply' list you gave Pete. He's put me in charge of our expedition, after all. And I warn you Jack, I'm keeping a tight fist on the expenses."

"Huh? No way, kiddo! I'm older than you, and the pilot to boot. I should be the one in charge..."

The discussion goes on long into the night, the cake almost forgotten.

Ultimately plans are made. Departure for Kabulstan in three weeks.

Time to make preparations, and say farewells.

And leave the life they both know behind forever.

 


End file.
